Once We Set Sail: A Novel
by Nick.Norma
Summary: rewrite When Kairi suggests to Sora that they should take the raft and leave the island for good, Sora agrees and the two are thrust into a dark plot that will hold the answer to what Kairi has wondered all her life: Who is she? Where did she come from?
1. Introduction

An orange sun set across the ocean that night

An orange sun set across the ocean that night. With the surf lapping at the tips of their toes a young boy and girl sat on an old wooden dock and looked out into the endless horizon. Sora, the boy felt his face flushing red as the girl who he undoubtedly liked gave a sigh as the warm breeze hit their faces from the sea.

"Kairi I love you."- Go on say it!

The thought repeated itself over and over rattling like a rusty spoke inside his skull- tell her boy! Tell her how you feel!

He knew of course, that he couldn't, and he hated himself for that simple fact. It felt as if his insides were flipping around his body in some elaborate acrobatic stunt. Sora had never been that great for showing his feelings. When it came to words Sora was as dumbfounded as Wakka upon loosing a game of Blitzball. Now Riku, Sora's best friend- He was good. An academic- He wasn't afraid to say what he felt and when he did it came out like poetry. Sora wished he could be more like him.

Sora lowered his scruffy head slightly in defeat.

"Chicken!"- He told himself and immediately felt better. It was a strange way his mind worked, he felt much better if he bullied himself.

Riku would've never given in that easily, knowing the silver haired youth he would have leant in and kissed the girl- completely spontaneous and she would love every minute of it.

Girls always did.

Sora felt slightly sick inside- why did he get stuck with such a blatantly clumsy personality? He longed for this girl, he needed her! Yet; because of his character he could never acquire her.

Kairi turned to Sora, her reddish brown hair flittering slightly in the breeze. She engaged him with her eyes- a deep purple and smiled,

'Isn't this an awesome sunset Sora?' Kairi asked not moving from her divine perch next to him.

'Yeah…' Sora let the word slip from his lips as if it was like the same breeze they were feeling currently and raised his hand to rest against the back of his neck.


	2. Summer

The blazing orange Sun always shone down on the Destiny islands hidden within their own tiny ocean

The blazing orange Sun always shone down on the Destiny islands hidden within their own tiny ocean. The place was almost literally a photo from tourist brochure, sandy white beaches and warm clear blue water in which the most amazing fish you would ever see explored the beautiful coral reefs constantly. It was the life.

To be perfectly honest however it was the only life Sora and the other children had ever known. Riku had once inquired about what lay outside their little paradise to the adults, but had been met with a 'that's not for children to know' statement. That was at least four years ago, and since then Riku had speculated that not even the adults new the answer to what lay across those waters.

It was possible that the reason for Riku's obsession with the great beyond had been caused because of the ridiculous answers the teenager had squeezed from his parents. The obsession had also spread to Sora and Kairi, which was why they had built the raft.

For the past seven or eight weeks the teenagers had spent their holidays on one of the smaller islands they had played on when they where kids, collecting bits of drift wood, rope and anything that vaguely resembled building materials to fashion a crude boat.

What they had ended up with was crude assortment of sticks tied together and waterproofed with palm tree leaves and old fishing net. Upon their mighty vessel they would sail the ocean and discover new worlds! To most this island was a paradise, but to hearts that seek freedom it was a nothing but a tiny prison surrounded by water.

Tidus a blond haired swimming champion that the three went to school with was a sceptic. He once told Sora that he had swum out until he could no longer see land and had been met with nothing but more water. He also spoken of a presence which Sora could only describe as an invisible barrier that blocked him from going any further.

Sora did not believe Tidus.

'You know Sora, Riku has changed.' Kairi said as the two continued their tradition of watching the sun set behind the glistening waters. Her voice had a hint of something in it. Sadness? Regret?

'What d'ya mean Kai?' Sora could not help staring into her violet eyes.

'Well…' she seemed unsure. But they had been best friends for years! Ever since she had… She was holding something back from him. His face said to her Tell me! Tell me Kairi! You know you can trust me! She ignored him, 'You can tell me Kairi.' He let his hand brush against her shoulder but pulled it away almost as soon as he had moved it forward and blushed.

'I'm not sure exactly…'She smiled at him, 'He seems so distant, different to what he used to be, it's like something is killing him inside' she lingered on that for a moment.

A few months back Riku had had a hard time, his father had died in a storm and he had been devastated by it. Not because he missed the man, but because he never really knew him.

'Riku is over that depression Kairi- trust me' Sora said and comforted her. They sat again in awkward silence. Sora twiddling with his hands and Kairi breathing quietly.

Sora looked back out to the horizon and the shimmering reflection of the sun on the soft wet. The fishing boats where arriving back on the Mainland after another day of harvesting.

Suddenly Kairi's eyes lit up, she grabbed his shoulder and half laughed her words out:

'Sora! Let's take the raft and go–just the two of us!'

'What?' Where did that come from?

'We could go now! Leave all of this behind us! I would like to try find where I came from.'

Sora chuckled.

'Nawh that wouldn't work! We can't just leave Riku, Can we?'

'Hehe. Just kidding' she giggled.

Sora melted inside. That laugh! It was so cute.

'What's gotten into you Kairi? You're the one who's changed!' Sora grinned and rubbed his face,

'Maybe' she seemed distant again,' you know, I was a little scared at first… but now I'm ready. No matter where I go and what I see, I know I can always come back here… and I know that you'll be with me the entire time… right?'

'Yeh! Of course!'

'I just can't wait, once we set sail- it'll be great'

'Yeh. No more parents telling us what to do, we could be our own masters! Go anywhere we please, do anything we please- No responsibility!' Sora exclaimed,

'I would like that Sora, Just us three, doing what we want.'

Sora smiled at her as she stood up to leave, her white sleeveless t-shirt glaring against what was left of the sun, 'Don't ever change Sora. Don't ever change' she seemed to order him warmly, and the poor fourteen-year-old boy felt like complying with anything she said, 'I won't' he replied and she smiled.

Leaning forward Kairi kissed him lightly on the cheek, her warm lips pressing against his skin. Sora's breath stopped, stuck in his throat. She pulled away, blushed slightly and walked back up the dock to her makeshift hut down the beach.

From his hammock behind a small cluster of coconut trees Riku clenched his fists. This wasn't supposed to happen! His good sense of hearing had cursed him for once. From his little grove next to the pier he had heard everything between Sora and Kairi. He had heard Kairi's complaints about him, He had heard their conspiracy to leave him behind, and most painful of all he had heard at the end of their conversation a silence that could only ever mean one thing. Someone had kissed someone else, and by Riku's reckoning it was Sora.

Sora had wanted to kiss her for a while though, he could hear it in his friend's voice. Normally Riku would have rushed Sora and clapped him on the back

'Good job mate!' would be an appropriate sentiment if this was the norm.

However this was not the 'norm'. This was Kairi, the girl who had haunted Riku's dreams for a long time. She was their best friend, her warm and caring personality (one of the traps that Riku had fallen for) had long become a staple part of their lives.

She was one of those rare girls that where beautiful both inside and out and also incredibly perceptive. She knew how to cheer you up when you where down, and how to make you feel at ease in the most uncomfortable of situations.

Riku heard a noise from up the pier, the sound of Sora's goofy yellow boots clomping on the wood. He had to talk to his friend, surely Sora would understand if he just explained he had liked Kairi for longer? As Sora's footsteps neared him Riku planned what he was going to say.

With his eyes still shut and lying on his orange hammock Riku spoke out to his friend.

'Hold it right there Sora.' Sora jumped, he was obviously not expecting to be caught this early on in the game.

'Oh… Hey Riku… I didn't know you where back there.'

'Evidently not Sora.' Riku chuckled.

'Riku…' Sora could see his friend was pained by what he had heard between the two.

'Kairi was just joking around man.'

'Cut the crap Sora, I know you kissed her.'

'Riku…'

'You know I've liked her for years man… how could you do this to me?'

'She kissed me Riku. Besides I like her too!' Sora protested.

'Do you have any idea how this makes me feel Sora?' Riku snapped. Sora sighed and tried to push past the older boy,

'Give it a rest Riku. For once I'm the one who gets the girl okay?'

Big mistake.

Riku shoved Sora back in front of him. He was mad now, Sora could see that same rage that occasionally took Riku over when things went real bad for him.

'You listen up Sora and you listen good!' Sora took a slightly worried step back.

'You can't have her man, not if you value our friendship. It's not right.'

'Let Kairi choose for herself!' Riku shoved Sora; he was about to loose control again.

'Just because you found her on the beach that day Sora doesn't mean shit!'

'That's got nothing to do with it! You are being a dick Riku just back off!' Sora's voice cracked.

'That has everything to do with it Sora and you know it!'

'Fuck you man.' That was a step too far in the wrong direction and Sora knew it.

'No Fuck you!' Riku hit Sora in the jaw and sent him to the sandy ground.

As soon as the silver haired youth saw the scarlet spots of blood on the ground he came back to the real world and to what he had done.

'oh shit..'

Sora was just starting to pick himself up off the ground, one hand holding his face in agony. He tried to help Sora up, but the kid just shoved him away.

'Fuck off Riku!' Sora screamed angrily through a mouthful of blood and saliva. Riku backed away in shock at his acts and then turned and ran leaving Sora behind in the sand to think about how he was going to explain this to Kairi.


	3. Prelude 1

Early one crisp morning as the foam from the sea gushed up across the white sandy beach a young girl lay passed out amongst th

Early one crisp morning as the foam from the sea gushed up across the white sandy beach a young girl lay passed out amongst the waves. She had short brown hair and seemed to be around the age of six or seven. She was dressed in khaki coloured shorts and a sleeveless t shirt that may have once been white but now was a dirty cream colour. If someone where to observe this strange sight one could even suggest that her very heart was connected to the ocean. Her chest rose and sank to the very motions of the waves coming in and out and although she lay flat on her side in the bosom of the sea, this mysterious girl was perfectly dry and warm.

Not a drop of water had spoiled her petite frame. The sea spray instead forged an alternate path around her body, leaving the sand underneath her dry and warm. It was almost as if the water was afraid to touch her like she was some holy relic to be feared by the eyes of men and glorified by God.

It was around half past six and the sun slowly began to rise on the horizon. A cool breeze whispered across the bay calling to the coconut fronds- informing the mountains of the arrival of this newcomer.

Gulls squawked in the distance and the girl began to awaken. She was faintly aware of someone shuffling quietly and cautiously towards her.

'Hello?' A voice.

A young boy- nine years of age perhaps? Only just about to hit puberty. Kairi did not know how she knew this but she did. She heard him get closer and her eyelids flipped open.

They looked around and investigated the surroundings.

'Who are you?' the boy spoke again.

She rolled over slowly so she could just see the outline of his small face and messy brown hair over the brightness of the clear blue sky above.

'…huh?' she moaned quietly,

'Where did you come from?' the boy asked…


End file.
